I toe the line of being a computer nerd and a theater nerd daily. It all began on a fateful day in fourth grade when gym was rained out. With nowhere else to put a group of overactive 10 year olds, our teacher dropped us in the theater classroom. There I watched an improv performance — put on by other 10 year olds — that probably meant very little to everyone else in that room. But for me, it was the realization that I too could be part of telling stories that made people feel better.
I started acting in middle school to scratch the itch of being part of the storytelling process. My first part on stage came in the time-honored role of Pirate #3 in “Peter Pan”. To everyone’s surprise, there were even more iconic roles I would go on to play in “Hello Dolly” (Waiter #4), “Hairspray” (Detention Kid #5) and “In the Heights” (Stoop Kid #2). When I wasn’t leading casts, I was an active member of my high school newspaper, honing my ability to capture a story based on a premise and information gathering.
In college, I began to explore my more technical side. I hold video games and animated movies close to my heart as a way in which I connected to my cousins. Once I learned about the existence of the technology that drove these experiences, I knew I wanted to get closer and learn more.
At the same time, I dove deep into student theater. I acted, directed, produced and sound designed — trying to get to the core of the storytelling process. During this time, I also started taking improv courses at Upright Citizens Brigade, which gave me a whole new entry point to the collaborative storytelling experience. I consistently found that the most exciting moments were when I broke ground on a part of the story I hadn’t seen before and I could show it to other people through my work.
As I finished college, I felt a deep realization that what I wanted to explore more than anything was the writing process. With college no longer providing a structure to my days and weeks, I find my mind wandering to endless stories. I read about scriptwriting from the greats and I do my best to apply those lessons in my own writing. I find that my experiences acting and improvising make it easy for the characters to come alive on the page.
My current experiences at Disney Animation further open the door on how stories develop and only excites me more about getting into the “room where it happens” (I’m a theater kid, I couldn’t possibly finish this without a “Hamilton” reference). Now, whenever I sit down to write, I feel like that 10 year old boy, watching improv “criss-cross applesauce” and thinking about how much I want to tell stories to make people feel good.
